Passions have admittedly been roused in Tamil Nadu by Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe’s statement, a week ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country, that Lanka would be fully entitled to shoot Indian fishermen who stray into Lankan waters. But New Delhi should not allow this to spoil the crucial visit at a critical juncture not just in bilateral relations
but also in Sri Lanka’s own history after the civil war. It would be extremely insular for New Delhi and the Indian public at large not to appreciate that Colombo also operates in a competitive polity, in which the government has to balance different pulls and pressures.
The ouster of Mahinda Rajapaksa, victor of the civil war and open champion of majoritarian nationalism, as president of the country through the democratic process and his replacement by a more conciliatory Maithripala Sirisena, provides an opportunity for Sri Lanka to achieve the reconciliation and national rebuilding the country badly needs. India’s role should be to aid and assist this process, not hinder it. The Lankan government cannot be seen by its people to be either succumbing to Indian pressure or sacrificing the interests of Sri Lanka as a whole, when it deals with its giant neighbour to the north. Sinhala chauvinists are waiting to pounce on the government for any deemed compromise on Lankan interests. In order for Lanka to make substantive agreements that India would like to see, it would do its government no harm to talk tough on issues on which it is on strong ground.
Humanitarian solutions are possible and will be found on fishermen. It is more difficult to satisfy those who fish for trouble. The trick is to focus on how politically empowering its Tamil minority will strengthen Sri Lanka as a nation.
